Charles Magill Conrad

Charles Magill Conrad (24 December 1804-11 February 1878) was a US Senator from Louisiana (W) from 14 April 1842 to 3 March 1843 (succeeding Alexandre Mouton and preceding Alexander Porter), a member of the US House of Representatives (W-LA 2) from 4 March 1849 to 17 August 1850 (succeeding Bannon Goforth Thibodeaux and preceding Henry Adams Bullard), Secretary of War from 15 August 1850 to 7 March 1853 (succeeding George W. Crawford and preceding Jefferson Davis), and Secretary of State from 25 October to 5 November 1852 (succeeding Daniel Webster and preceding Edward Everett).

Biography
Charles Magill Conrad was born in Winchester, Virginia in 1804, and he moved to Mississippi and Louisiana while he was still a child. In 1842, he was appointed to the US Senate to finish Alexandre Mouton's unexpired term, and he went on to serve in the US House of Representatives from 1849 to 1850, when he was appointed Secretary of War under President Millard Fillmore. He served until 1853, and he briefly served as acting Secretary of State in 1852. In December 1860, he was a leader of the secession movement in Louisiana, and he served in the Confederate Congress as a representatives from Louisiana's 2nd district. After the war, he resumed his practice of law, and he died in New Orleans in 1878.